$40 For That Old Thing? How Used Games Are Priced on Kotaku.AU looks at how
used games are priced, talking with several used game vendors, though industry
leader GameStop was not willing to comment for their article. The simple
economics of supply and demand are still in play, of course, and they examine
how this is determined. On a related note,
Retailers 'limit UK
games market' on the BBC is a GamesCom conversation with a couple of
publishers about games at retail and the secondary market (thanks
GamesIndustry.biz). Koch Media's Georg Larch tells them digital distribution
will help publishers deal with used game sales, while Eidos' Ian Livingstone
says they still want to work with retailers because: "These aren't just shops,
they are a marketing tool, a window into our world where software houses can
display their wares." Of course some gamers buy games at full price only because
they know they can later recoup some of that cost by selling games, and many
gamers use the proceeds from selling their old games to buy new ones, but
apparently Livingstone sees no value in this, saying: "The pre-owned market is a
serious problem, because there is no benefit to developers or publishers."

Here, I'll do a quick comparison, choosing games at random from Best Buy and GameStop.

1: Saints Row 2 for the 360.GameStop: $26.99Best Buy: $29.99Are you really arguing that people that bought a $300 system, plus accessories, can't afford that extra $3 for new?

2: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition for the 360.GameStop: $26.99Best Buy: $29.99

3: Thrillville for the WiiGameStop: $17.99Best Buy: $19.99

4: Condemned 2 for the 360GameStop: $17.99Best Buy: $23.99

So in one of those cases you get a significantly better deal, although GameStop has Condemned 2 new listed at $19.99, and neither new nor used are available online yet both new and used are available at the 3 GameStops nearest me.

But it's typically a $2-$3 savings on an old game, $5 on a new. People are arguing this isn't affordable in order to support the people that slaved over it instead of the zit-faced geek at GameStop?